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Friday, February 18, 2000
Schlotzsky's spares the ho-hum with exotic pizzas
But step-above sandwich shop fails on long lines and sold-out items during a recent lunch-hour visit
One taste of the garlicky pesto sauce on a sourdough pizza crust convinced us that Schlotzky's is more than just a sandwich shop these days.
Bearing the new name "Schlotzsky's Deli," a number of these franchises locally and elsewhere have added new items to their traditional menu, hoping to give diners more than just a quick bite for lunch or dinner. We recently visited the eatery on Alameda, but found the fare to be comparable to that enjoyed on earlier visits to the downtown location at 615 Leopard St.
A recent lunch at the Alameda site started with a 15-minute wait in line simply to order. The place was packed, with every unadorned table taken and other people standing on the tile floor, waiting for to-go orders.
But the manager quickly came out to those of us waiting, apologized and warned us of the lengthy wait. He even loaned his own cell phone to a customer who needed to make a phone call. We weren't in a hurry, and it gave us a chance to peruse the newly expanded menu.
We served ourselves some soup, and waited in line; grabbed a bag of chips, and waited in line; and even pulled a few desserts out of a chilled display case, and waited in line. Finally, we placed our order at the cash register, paid, filled our own drink glasses and then waited for our food for an additional 10 minutes.
Our soup staved off our fits of hunger briefly, with our favorite being the creamy Wisconsin cheese, with bits of ham. A companion's broccoli-cheese soup was a bit on the watery side, although the full broccoli florets helped give it some substance.
When the employees called our name letting us know our order was ready, we carried the food to our table and quickly forgot about the wait. Sitting before us - but not for long - were two pizzas done the Schlotzsky's way.
Flattened sourdough bread served as the delicious crispy crust with a flavorful pesto sauce was the basis for the vegetarian pizza. Piled high with onions, black olives, green peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes, this creation didn't last long on our table.
We also tried the turkey-jalapeno pizza, which turned out to be a much better combination than it initially sounded. With the same sourdough crust, this dish consisted of thin strips of turkey and fiery jalapenos to give it some bite.
Schlotzsky's also offers specialty deli sandwiches now such as roast beef, pastrami and a Philly. We gave the Reuben a try, and found the corned beef to be tender and mild. The Swiss cheese was nice, although we longed for the traditional sauerkraut to go with it. As with all sandwiches, we had our choice of breads - original sourdough, wheat, rye or jalapeno, although they already had sold out of the rye bread in the size we wanted.
In fact, they had sold out of baked potatoes as well, one of the other new items on the menu that we had wanted to try. The spuds menu looks promising with toppings ranging from chili and cheese to the more traditional sour cream and chives.
We also tried a sandwich under the "light and flavorful" portion of the menu - a Dijon chicken sandwich that was good but not extraordinary. The staff also made it in a size smaller than what we had ordered. Another minor irritant was the fact that they didn't have any to-go menus to give to customers, making it hard to call in orders.
Our pre-packaged desserts of plain cheesecake and fudge brownie mousse cake were good, but couldn't top our love for the new pizzas. If some of the glitches can be conquered to keep up with the demand from customers, then this Schlotzsky's Deli will definitely have found a way to be a step above most sandwich shops.
Schlotzsky's Deli
4200 S. Alameda, 992-2850
Entrees: $3-$6
Checks: Local
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair accessible
No alcohol
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday.
Food: **
Atmosphere: * and a half
Service: * and a half
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